Am I mistaken, or does Steve hold tension on a line of solder using his teeth ? ...

MCRed · on Dec 4, 2014

He's not eating it, and he's not absorbing it thru the skin. I don't see how he could get poisoned.

Also, remember, it's not like eating an ounce of lead will poison you.

Yes, kids eating lead paint over many months can be a problem. But there the lead is ingested, and they are kids.

An adult holding solder in his mouth is not a problem.

FWIW, I did this myself for many years from 13-24 without any problems... and I don't recall ever swallowing a single piece of solder.

jack-r-abbit · on Dec 4, 2014

Looks like solder to me. I can't imagine holding some solder (usually only ~40% lead) in your teeth would give you that much exposure to be an issue. But I suppose doing it all day, every day, for years could add up.

wavefunction · on Dec 4, 2014

The lead vapors from having your unshielded mouth that close would be much worse than any direct contact with your tooth enamel, from what I know.

louprado · on Dec 4, 2014

Lead vaporizes at 1749 °C. Not going to happen while soldering.

sliverstorm · on Dec 4, 2014

I don't believe that's quite how it works. I don't think it needs to vaporize the way boiling water vaporizes, to be entrained in the smoke.

kazinator · on Dec 4, 2014

Of course, liquids have vapor pressure at any temperature between melting and boiling. I think there is no question that whatever vapor there is can be carried by convection along with the hot gases.

CamperBob2 · on Dec 4, 2014

Gee, it's almost as if the dangers of elemental lead poisoning have been exaggerated, or something.

Of course, it's much easier to downvote than to explain the apparent logical dissonance at work.

sliverstorm · on Dec 4, 2014

There's no dissonance, only scads of evidence suggesting lead is dangerous, and no evidence from you to the contrary.

Same as if I said to you, "Open your eyes the sun clearly orbits the Earth!". You'd either ask for proof, or shake your head and laugh.

CamperBob2 · on Dec 4, 2014

It's not my place to provide evidence, as I'm not the one making a positive assertion. It'd be nice if someone has done formal research on lead levels in electronics workers, but I've never seen anything like that posted, just a lot of scaremongering and ill-informed legislation.

Edit: you do realize what the term elemental lead refers to, correct? Here's another complex multi-syllable word that's worth of study by HN moderators: bioavailability.